Forming apparatus for 1-beam-type truss joists

ABSTRACT

The apparatus forms a truss joist structure comprising a pair of longitudinal chords and a continuous length, interconnecting web. Feed and guide rollers move the pair of chords through the apparatus in spaced relation and employ cutters which provide tapered grooves in opposed faces of the chords. Air jet means and a glue applicator are mounted on the outfeed side of the cutters to clean the grooves and apply glue therein. The feed and guide rollers for the chords support the latter in a spaced relation greater than the width of the web, and immediately following the glue applicator are crimp wheels which shape side edge portions of the web and feed such web toward the outfeed end of the apparatus. The guide rollers on the discharge side of the crimp wheels move the two chords closer together to cause engagement of the shaped edges of the web with the grooves in the chords. The apparatus has lateral adjustment means for assembling joists of different widths and also has adjustable guide rollers on its outfeed end to vary the chamber of the formed joists.

United States Patent [72] inventor Arthur L. Troutner Skyline Drive, Boise, Idaho 83702 [21] App]. No. 846,530 [22] Filed July 31, 1969 [45] Patented Oct. 26, 1971 [54] FORMING APPARATUS FOR l BEAM-TYPE TRUSS JOISTS 7 Claims, 14 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. C1 156/560, 156/257,]56/258,l56/304,156/535, 144/315 [51] Int. 1210 B27d 1/10, B32b 31/10 [50] Field of Search 156/257, 258, 266, 304, 313, 516, 517, 535, 556560; 144/136, 255, 320, 315; 143/157.1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 128,387 6/1872 Gyles 144/320 850,889 4/1907 Kelly 144/3096 UX 3,060,980 10/1962 Cook 144/315 X 3,135,644 6/1964 Coplen etal 156/257 X 3,267,974 8/1966 Elson l43/l57.1 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 563,097 7/1944 GreatBritain ABSTRACT: The apparatus forms a truss joist structure comprising a pair of longitudinal chords and a continuous length, interconnecting web. Feed and guide rollers move the pair of chords through the apparatus in spaced relation and employ cutters which provide tapered grooves in opposed faces ofthe chords. Air jet means and a glue applicator are mounted on the outfeed side of the cutters to clean the grooves and apply glue therein. The feed and guide rollers for the chords support the latter in a spaced relation greater than the width of the web, and immediately following the glue applicator are crimp wheels which shape side edge portions of the web and feed such web toward the outfeed end of the apparatus. The guide rollers on the discharge side of the crimp wheels move the two chords closer together to cause engagement of the shaped edges of the web with the grooves in the chords, The apparatus has lateral adjustment means for assembling joists of different widths and also has adjustable guide rollers on its outfeed end to vary the chamber ofthe formed joists PATENTEnnm 26 197i SHEET 10F 5 TROUTNER INVENTOR.

ARTHUR L.

@W GM 8 E PATENTEnum 28 Ian SHEET 2 OF 5 ARTHUR L. TROUTNER INVENTOR.

. ATTY.

PATENTEnnm 2s 19?! $616,091

SHEET u 0F 5 9 FIG. 3' 6 ARTHUR L. TROUTNER INVENTOR.

BY {W407 ATTY.

PATENTED 26 3,616,091

SHEET 5 BF 5 FIG. 7

I Y ARTHUR L. TROLJTNER x '4 INVENTOR. A.

' FIG l2 BY ATTY.

FORMING APPARATUS FOR l-BEAM-TYPE TRUSS JOISTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the manufacture of truss joists, and more particularly to apparatus for forming joists comprising a pair of chords and an interconnecting web.

Some joist means heretofore used for the construction of residential or commercial-type buildings have been formed of solid wood, and to possess the required strength, they must be cut from a first grade lumber. Therefore, they are extremely expensive. Laminated beams are also expensive. .Ioists which are of the chord and web construction, while being constructed of less expensive material, nevertheless require considerable man hours in their assembly, thus contributing also to a substantially expensive product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention and forming a primary objective thereof apparatus is provided which is capable of mass producing at lower cost a truss joist comprising a pair of spaced chords and a web connected to opposing face portions of the chords.

More particular objects of the present invention are to provide apparatus of the type described having a novel arrangement of structure including feed means for moving a pair of chords initially in a spaced relation greater than the overall width of a web, cutter means for making a grove in opposed faces of the chords, sir jet means for cleaning the groove, glue means for applying glue to the grooves, means for feeding a web into the area between the two chords in a plane of the grooves in the chords, and means for moving the chords together to engage the edges of the chord in the grooves; to provide a machine of the type described having adjustment means for assembling an l-beamtype joist of different dimension; and to provide means in such machine capable of forming a selected chamber in the joist in its construction.

The invention will be better understood and additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred form of the apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A and 1B are side elevational views of the present apparatus with FIG. 15 comprising a continuation of FIG. 1A in showing the complete length of the machine;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are enlarged top plan views of a portion of the machine, FIG. 28 comprising a continuation of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevational view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. IA;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary offset sectional view taken on the line 7-7 ofFIG. 28;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 8- 8 of FIG. 28;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 9-9 ofFIG. 28;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged end elevational view taken on the line 10-10 ofFlG. 1B;

FIG. II is a fragmentary schematic plan view showing a form of adjustment of the apparatus for making a cambered joist taken on the line ll-ll of FIG. 13;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of an I-beam-type joist formed by the present apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. I2 there is illustrated an I-beam-type joist which is fonned by the present machine. Such joistcomprises a pair of elongated chords l0 and an interconnecting web 12. Chords 10 have tapered groves 14 in opposing faces thereof and web I2 has tapered side edge portions 16 engaged in the grooves 1.4. A glue connection is provided between the grooves 14 and the edges 16 of the web, and preferably an aqueous glue is used for expanding the fibers in the joint as the latter is formed for providing a positive connection until such time that the glue is set. The web 12 may be continuous or provided in segments, such segments in the latter case either being in abutment or spaced from each other. The present machine employs means for forming the joist construction shown in FIG. 12, including providing the tapered grooves 14 in the chords, the tapered edge portions of the web 12, and assembling the three pieces into the joist structure. The apparatus hereof forms the joist in a flat position and thus reference to the side edges of the web comprises the edges to be connected to the chords.

The instant apparatus comprises supporting leg structure 18 for a pair of longitudinally extending, laterally spaced chsnnel-shaped frame members 20. One of the longitudinal frame members 20, such as the left-hand frame member in FIG. 3, is integrally secured, such as by welding, to cross frame members 22, also shown in FIG. 1A, integrated with the support legs 18. With particular reference to FIG. 3, the right hand longitudinal frame member 20 is adjustable laterally on the cross frame members 22, and for this purpose the cross frame members have a series of bores 24 for adjusted bolted connection, as by bolts 26. The upper portion of the longitudinal frame members 20 is connected by laterally extending frame members 28, FIGS. 1A, 2A, and 3, which similar to the bottom frame members have integrated connection with the lefthand frame member 20 and lateral adjustable connection to the right-hand frame member 20 by bolt means 30, FIGS. 2A and 2B, engageable with the righthand frame member and with a selected one of a series of bores 32 in the cross frame members 28. With particular reference to FIGS. 18 and 2B, the longitudinal frame members 20 have extensions 34 at the outfeed end, and similar to structure described above, these two extensions 34 are interconnected laterally by upper and lower frame members 36, FIGS. 1B and 28, having an adjustable bolt connection 38 with a series of holes 40 in the straps to provide for the lateral adjustment. By means of the lateral adjustment described, the machine is capable of forming I-beam type joists of different width.

The infeed mechanism, FIGS. 2A and 3, comprises two pairs of cooperating flanged rollers 44 and 46, one of such pairs of rollers being provided on each side of the machine and disposed inwardly of the side frames 20. The bottom rollers 46 on each side comprise drive rollers and the top rollers 44 comprise idler pressure rollers. The drive rollers 46 are mounted on a cross shaft 48 having journaled support 50 in the side frames 20, and such rollers have a drive connection with the shaft by a suitable key connection. A sprocket wheel 52 has a hub 54 keyed to the shaft 48 and is engaged by a longitudinally extending sprocket chain 56 which, as shown in FIG. 2A, engages a sprocket wheel 58 on a hub 60 keyed to a cross shaft 62 having journaled support 64 on side frame members 20. Shaft 62 is driven by motor means 66, FIG. 1A, through the medium of a gearbox 68 supported on a bracket 70 secured to the underside of one of the longitudinal side frames 20. The output shaft of the gearbox 68 supports a sprocket wheel 72 in drive connection, and such sprocket wheel drives a sprocket wheel 74, through the medium of a sprocket chain 76, on the cross shaft 62. Sprocket wheel 74 has a hub 78 provided with a key connection to the shaft 62.

Each of cross shafts 48 and 62 has a longitudinal keyway 80, FIG. 2A, which is engaged by a key in the various rollers and sprockets to provide the drive connection. Such key connection allows for the lateral adjustment of the right-hand structure of the apparatus mentioned above. Setscrews 82 are provided in the various right-hand rollers and keyways to fix the rollers and sprockets on the shafts in their adjusted positions. Drive rollers 46 have a serrated peripheral surface 84 for gripping the chords to move them into the machine. Rollers 44 provide to down pressure on the chords 10 against the drive rollers 46 and are supported on short shafts 86, which as is apparent on the right side of FIG. 3, project through a vertically elongated slot 88 in the frame member 20. Shafts 86 terminate in heads 90 which are enlarged relative to the width of slots 88, and the shafts are mounted on one end of arms 92 having pivot connections 93 at their other ends to the frame 20. Abutted against the upper edge of anns 92 are the ends of piston rods 94 from upright fluid operated cylinders 96 secured to brackets 98 in turn secured to the top of frames 20. Upon the application of fluid pressure to cylinders 96, the rollers 44 are capable of applying a gripping pressure against chords 10 for driving engagement by the rollers 46.

With reference to FIGS. 2A, and 4, vertically aligned pairs of guide rollers 100 and 102 have opposing edge engagement with the chords 10. The bottom roller on the right side of FIG. 4 is broken away for clarity. Each of the rollers 100 and 102 has side flanges 104 and 106. Upper rollers 100 have journaled engagement on shafts 108 projecting through vertically elongated slots 110 in the frames and terminating in enlarged head portions 112. Shafts 108 are supported on one end of longitudinally extending arms 114, which, as apparent in FIG. 2A, have a pivot connection 116 at their other ends with the frames 20. The upper rollers 110 are biased downwardly by tension springs 118, also seen in FIG. 1A, having connection between the headed end of shafts 108 and a projecting end of shafts 120 on which the lower rollers 102 are mounted. The shafts 120 for the lower rollers have a nonadjustable secured connection 122 with the frame members 20. The lower rollers are thus mounted in a stationary position and the upper rollers are biased downwardly to provide a pressure rolling engagement of the chords 10 therebetween.

The flanges 106 of the upper and lower rollers are adjustable laterally. To accomplish this adjustment, such flanges are slidably mounted on laterally projecting screws 126. Compression springs 128 are provided between the heads of the screws 126 and the flanges 106 to urge the latter toward the rollers, and by means of such structure automatic lateral adjustment of the rollers is provided to allow for some width adjustment of the chords therein to compensate for irregularities in the width of the chords.

Spaced a short distance inwardly of the infeed end of the apparatus is a pair of cutters 130, FIGS. 2A and 3, which are arranged to make the tapered grooves 14 on the inwardly facing or opposed surfaces of the two chords 10. Cutters 130 are disposed in a horizontal plane and are driven by upright motors 132. These motors are supported on brackets 134 having a reinforcing web 136 and a top wall which extends horizontally and has a bolt connection 140 with its respective motor. Bolts 140 project through laterally elongated slots 142 in the bracket legs 138 to provide for lateral adjustment. Such lateral adjusting movement of the motors on their brackets permits selected depth of cut of grooves 14 in the chords.

Spaced toward the outfeed end of the machine from the cutters 130 are groove cleaning and glue applying heads 146, FIGS. 2A, 4, 5, and 6. Heads 146 are supported on a pair of upright elongated screws 148 threadedly supported in rightangle brackets 150 secured to the frames 20. The length of the screws 148 is greater than the upright dimension of the heads 146, and compression springs 151 and 152 are supported on the screws below and above the head, respectively, thus providing vertical automatic adjustment of the heads. Heads 146 have outwardly projecting tongues 154 which are of lateral dimension and selected shape to project into tapered grooves 14 in the chords 10, FIGS. 4 and 5. With particular reference to FIG. 5, tongues 154 have an angled vertical portion 156 on its edge which is disposed toward the infeed end of the machine, and projecting through the angled edge 156 is the outlet 158 of a passageway 160 to which air is supplied under pressure from a suitable source, not shown, through conduits 162. The source of air operates continuously, and it is apparent that as the chords 10 progress through the machine the jet of air through outlet 158 cleans sawdust or other foreign matter from the grooves 14.

Also projecting through the head 146 and into the tongue 154 is a glue passageway 164 which is fed by conduit 166 from a glue reservoir 168, FIG. 1A. With particular reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, glue passageways 164 in the heads 146 communicate with vertically disposed passageways 170 in turn leading to recesses 172 provided in the upper and lower surfaces of the tongues. Upon the presence of glue in passageway 164, glue is supplied continuously to both sidewalls of the groove 14 as the chord progresses past the head.

A switch 174 is provided on one side'of the machine, FIGS. 2A and 4, such switch being mounted on bracket 178 connected to the frame and having a movable switch arm 180 projecting into the path of the chord 10. Switch 174 controls the flow of glue through the conduits 166 whereby upon engagement of the switch glue is furnished to the heads 146 and upon the end of a chord moving beyond the switch the glue is shut off.

The structure thus far described operates only on the chords 10. Structure will now be described for applying the webs 12 to the chords for making the joist structure. Adjacent to the heads 146 toward the outfeed end of the apparatus are lorrgitudinally extending brackets 184, FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 7 on which a segment of web 12 is laid for feeding into the ap paratus. Brackets 184 are supported on lateral arms 185, FIG. 2A, and the upper surfaces thereof are substantially horizontally aligned with the grooved portion 14 of the chords 10. The chords, up to the ends of the brackets 184, are spaced a greater distance apart than the total width of the web.

From the web supports 184 the webs 12 are fed toward the outfeed end of the machine and the chords are bent in toward each other to force the edges of the web into the grooves 14. To accomplish these functions, upper and lower feed and crimp wheels 186 and 188, best seen in FIGS. 28, 7 and 9, are provided. The wheels 186 and 188 are in vertically aligned pairs and have a suitable vertical spacing for engaging the side edge portions of the web 12 as best seen in FIG. 9, in a selected manner such that they not only drive the webs toward the outfeed end of the apparatus but also shape the said side edge portions. The peripheral edges 190 of the wheels 186 and 188 are beveled for shaping the side edge portions of the web. These wheels 186 and 188 actually compress the wood to provide the tapered edge portion. One of the tapered edges 16 of a web 12 is shown on the left side of the web in FIG. 7. With particular reference to FIG. 2B, the wheels 186 and 188 are disposed immediately adjacent to the outfeed ends of web support brackets 184 whereby an operator in feeding the webs into the machine lays them on the brackets I84 and then moves them into engagement with the wheels 186 and 188. Upper crimp wheels 186 are supported on shafts 191 having journaled support 192 on the frame 20. Lower crimp wheels 188 have hubs 193 connected to cross shaft 194 journaled in the frame members 20 by suitable journals 196.

Shaft 194 has a sprocket hub 200, FIG. 7, having a key connection with keyway 80 in such shaft. Hub 200 also has a setscrew 82 for selected fixed lateral adjustment thereof on the shaft. This hub has a first sprocket wheel 202 engaged by a sprocket chain 204 having engagement with a sprocket wheel 206 on the hub 60, FIG. 24. Shaft 194 is thus driven from shaft 62.

After the chords 10 and web 12 pass by the crimp rollers 186, 188, a connection therebetween is made to fonn the joist structure. This is accomplished by urging the two chords inwardly toward each other an amount to insert the edge portions 16 of the web into the grooves 14 to form a joint connection. For this purpose, roller assemblies 207 FIG. 2B, are provided and have serrated surfaces 208 providing a feed engagemeat with the chords. Both roller assemblies 207 are driven and are keyed to upright shafts 210, also shown in FIG. 1B, having journaled support in bearings 212 secured to side frames 34. Shafts 210 comprise the output of gearboxes 214. The input shafts 216 of these gearboxes have sprocket wheels 218 keyed thereto, and such sprocket wheels are engaged by sprocket chains 220 which are driven by sprocket wheels 222 on the hubs 200, FIG. 7. i

As best seen in FIG. 2B, the chord-engaging surfaces 208 of the roller assemblies 207 are disposed inwardly relative to the outwardly facing surfaces of the chords in the initial feed movement of the latter through the apparatus. According to such arrangement the chords are thus bent toward each other, and by properly locating the rollers 207, the grooves 14 and side edge portions 16 are brought into engagement. A fairly tight wedging engagement is provided whereby the parts will remain connected until the glue sets. In this regard, the glue used is an aqueous glue which when applied to the surfaces to be glued causes an expansion of the wood fibers, thus making a joint which will hold together until the glue is set.

Sets of guide rollers are provided on each side of the apparatus adjacent to the bending area of the chords in the machine. First, referring to FIGS. 28 and the right side of FIG. 7, double rollers 226 are supported on upright shafts 228 mounted in brackets 230 secured to the frames 20. As seen in FIG. 2B, rollers 226 engage the outer side surface of chords 10.

As seen in FIG. 2B, and the left side of FIG. 7, guide rollers 232 operating on individual upright shafts 234 are disposed so as to engage the inwardly directed surfaces of the chords. As best seen in FIG. 7, rollers 232 have their individual support on inwardly directed upper and lower brackets 236. Each of the shafts 234 has headed projections 238 passing through laterally elongated slots 240 in the brackets 236 which provide lateral adjustment for the rollers.

Rollers 226 and 232 provide some of the guiding functions of the chords 10 through the apparatus but primarily are intended to prevent lateral forces from acting on crimp wheels I86 and 188 and guide rollers 100.

Disposed at the positions where the chords and the webs are joined are upper and lower guide plates 242, FIGS. 2B, 7 and 8. These guide plates are mounted on lateral brackets 244 secured to the frame members and accurately support the webs 12 in horizontal alignment with the grooves 14 for efficient formation of the joint.

In a preferred arrangement, the driving speed of the crimp wheels 186, 188 is slightly greater than the driving speed of the roller assemblies 44, 46 and 207 and by means of this relationship, a web segment, in "an arrangement where the web is made up of multiple individual segments in edge abutting engagement, will catch up and abut against the next forward web segment even though there may be a small lag of time between the passing of the trailing end of one segment and the leading end of the next segment when the latter is fed into the apparatus. A firm abutment is desired since glue is applied to these edges.

On the outfeed end of the'apparatus from roller assemblies 207 on each side are flanged idler roller assemblies 248, FIGS. 18 and 28, supported on upright shafts 250 journaled in bearings 252 mounted on frame extensions 34.

Shafts 210 have pulleys 253 secured thereto which drive belts 254 in turn driving pulleys 256 on upright shafts 258 for roller assemblies 259 identical to roller assemblies 207. Shafts 258 have journaled support in bearings 260 mounted on the frame extensions 34.

Each of the roller assemblies toward the outfeed end of the apparatus are adjustable for precise location in assembly and for additional reasons, to be described. For this purpose, their respective journals have bolt connections 261, FIG. 2B, in laterally elongated slots-262 in the frame.

Mounted on the outfeed end of the machine is a cutoff saw assembly 264, FIGS. IB and 10, employing upright frame members 266 secured to the frame members 34. Supported laterally across opposite frame members 266 is a support bar 268 on which a power driven motor assembly 270 is supported. The support between the bar 268 and motor assembly comprises a bearing bracket 272 slidably mounted on the rod 268. The bracket 272 is connected to the projecting end of a piston rod 274 from a fluid operated cylinder 276, secured in horizontal, laterally extending relation on a frame member 266. The outer end of the cylinder 276 is supported by angled struts 277. Upon operation of the fluid operated cylinder, the saw is moved laterally to cut the joist.

At the outfeed end of the machine is conveyor table 278 for receiving the completed joists from the forming machine. In a preferred arrangement, the table 278 is securely attached to the floor and has a pair of roller assemblies 280, FIGS. 18 and l 1. Roller assemblies 280 guide the joists as they are discharged from the forming machine and are mounted on upright shafts 282. Shafts 282 have lateral adjustment means 284 to vary the lateral positioning thereof. Since the roller assemblies 280 are laterally adjustable, as are the roller assemblies 207, 248, and 259, a curvature can be applied to the joists in their formation, as seen in FIG. II, to provide arcuate or cambered contour.

OPERATION In the operation of the present apparatus, the chords 10 are fed into the roller assemblies 44, 46, and such assemblies start them through the apparatus in the direction of arrows 286. Other arrows 288 indicate the direction of movement of various parts. As such chords reach the cutters 130, the grooves 14 are put therein and as the leading edge of a chord engages switch arm 174 glue is fed to the head I46 and is available when the chord reaches such head, dust and foreign particles being first cleaned out of the grooves by the continuous air supply being forcefully ejected from outlets 158 in the heads 146. As the leading ends of the first chords travel pass the glue heads, the operator feeds a web segment which is supported on the brackets 184 into the crimping wheels. The web is usually made up of short segments, and the operator keeps feeding them in one after another. As stated above, the crimp wheels 186, 188 travel faster then the feeding means for the chords, and therefore a web segment will catch up and abut against the preceding segment even though there is a little lag in feeding. The abutment caused by the following segment also forms a good glue joint, the glue having been spread on the end edges of the webs prior to their insertion into the crimp wheels. Upon passing through the crimp wheels I86, 188 the side edge portions of the webs 16 are formed, and as the chords move into roller assemblies 207, they are bent toward each other an amount sufficient to force the side portions 16 of the web into the grooves 14 of the chords to make an assembled product. As explained hereinbefore, by selective positioning of the roller assemblies 207, 248, 259, and 280, the joist can be cambered. as desired. As the trailing end of the one chord disengages the switch 174 the glue is cut off.

The present device forms a joist construction which is rugged in use and inexpensive to manufacture. No hand assembly, drilling routing or other function is necessary, with the exception of trimming the joists for length. It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Forming apparatus for assembling an I-beam-type truss joist made up of a pair of spaced chords and an interconnecting web, comprising a. a framework having infeed and outfeed ends,

b. laterally spaced chord feed means on the framework arranged to move a pair of chords longitudinally in laterally spaced relation with two sides thereof facing each other,

c. cutter means mounted on the framework adjacent the infeed end thereof for cutting longitudinal grooves in the two facing sides of the chords for receiving side edge portions of web members in secured engagement,

web support means on the framework downstream from the cutter means for receiving flat web members between the grooved chords,

e. web feed means on the framework downstream from the web support means for moving the web members in the same direction as the chords, and

chord press means on the framework downstream from the web feed means for moving the chords laterally inward to press the opposite ends of the web members into the grooves in the chords.

2. The forming apparatus of claim 1 including glue-applying means on the framework between the cutter means and web support means for applying glue in the grooves in the chords.

3. The forming apparatus of claim 1 wherein a. said cutter means are constructed and arranged to make tapered grooves in the chords,

b. and the web feed means includes shaping wheels arranged to engage side edge portions of the web members for providing substantially corresponding tapers to said side edge portions for engagement in the grooves.

4. The forming apparatus of claim 3 wherein the shaping wheels are rotated at a speed greater than the movement of the chords, whereby to effect crowding together of the web members into edge abutment.

5. Forming apparatus for assembling an l-beam-type truss joist made up of a pair of spaced chords and an interconnecting web, comprising a. a framework having infeed and outfeed ends,

b. laterally spaced chord feed means on the framework arranged to move a pair of chords longitudinally in laterally spaced relation with two sides thereof facing each other,

e. cutter means mounted on the framework adjacent the infeed end thereof for cutting longitudinal grooves in the two facing sides of the chords for receiving side edge portions of web members in secured engagement,

. web support means on the framework downstream from the cutter means for receiving flat web members between the grooved chords,

e. glue-applying means on the framework between the cutter means and web support means for applying glue in the grooves of the chords, the glue-applying means in cluding head members one associated with each chord, a portion of each head member being arranged to project into the associated groove for furnishing glue to the latter, forced air means in the head members on the infeed side thereof with relation to the glue-applying means arranged to clean the grooves before the application of glue thereto, g. web feed means on theframework downstream from the web support means for moving the web members in the same direction as the chords, and

h. chord press means on the framework downstream from the web feed means for moving the chords laterally inward to press the opposite ends of the web members into the grooves in the chords.

6. Forming apparatus for assembling an l-beam-type truss joist made up of a pair of spaced chords and an interconnecting web, comprising 7 a. a framework having infeed and outfeed ends,

b. laterally spaced chord feed means on the framework arranged to move a pair of chords longitudinally in laterally spaced relation with two sides thereof facing each other,

c. cutter means mounted on the framework adjacent the infeed end thereof for cutting longitudinal grooves in the two facing sides of the chords for receiving side edge portions of web members in secured engagement, the cutter means being constructed and arranged to make tapered grooves in the chords, web support means on the framework downstream from the cutter means for receiving flat web members between the grooved chords,

e. web feed means on the framework downstream from the web support means for moving the web members in the same direction as the chords, the web feed means including shaping wheels arranged to engage and forcibly cornpress the side edge portions of the web members for providing substantially corresponding tapers to said side edge portions for engagement in the grooves, and

f, chord press means on the framework downstream from the web feed means for moving the chords laterally inward to press the opposite ends of the web members into the grooves in the chords.

7. Forming apparatus for assembling an l-beam-type truss joist made up of a pair of spaced chords and an interconnecting web, comprising a. a framework having infeed and outfeed ends,

b. laterally spaced chord feed means on the framework arranged to move a pair of chords longitudinally in laterally spaced relation with two sides thereof facing each other,

c. cutter means mounted on the framework adjacent the infeed end thereof for cutting longitudinal grooves in the two facing sides of the chords for receiving side edge portions of web members in secured engagement,

d. web support means on the framework downstream from the cutter means for receiving flat web members between the grooved chords,

. web feed means on the framework downstream from the web support means for moving the web members in the same direction as the chords,

f. chord press means on the framework downstream from the web feed means for moving the chords laterally inward to press the opposite ends of the web members into the grooves in the chords and,

g. guide means arranged to curve the chords after the latter are joined with the web members to form a cambered joist.

asses 

2. The forming apparatus of claim 1 including glue-applying means on the framework between the cutter means and web support means for applying glue in the grooves in the chords.
 3. The forming apparatus of claim 1 wherein a. said cutter means are constructed and arranged to make tapered grooves in the chords, b. and the web feed means includes shaping wheels arranged to engage side edge portions of the web members for providing substantially corresponding tapers to said side edge portions for engagement in the grooves.
 4. The forming apparatus of claim 3 wherein the shaping wheels are rotated at a speed greater than the movement of the chords, whereby to effect crowding together of the web members into edge abutment.
 5. Forming apparatus for assembling an I-beam-type truss joist made up of a pair of spaced chords and an interconnecting web, comprising a. a framework having infeed and outfeed ends, b. laterally spaced chord feed means on the framework arranged to move a pair of chords longitudinally in laterally spaced relation with two sides thereOf facing each other, c. cutter means mounted on the framework adjacent the infeed end thereof for cutting longitudinal grooves in the two facing sides of the chords for receiving side edge portions of web members in secured engagement, d. web support means on the framework downstream from the cutter means for receiving flat web members between the grooved chords, e. glue-applying means on the framework between the cutter means and web support means for applying glue in the grooves of the chords, the glue-applying means including head members one associated with each chord, a portion of each head member being arranged to project into the associated groove for furnishing glue to the latter, f. forced air means in the head members on the infeed side thereof with relation to the glue-applying means arranged to clean the grooves before the application of glue thereto, g. web feed means on the framework downstream from the web support means for moving the web members in the same direction as the chords, and h. chord press means on the framework downstream from the web feed means for moving the chords laterally inward to press the opposite ends of the web members into the grooves in the chords.
 6. Forming apparatus for assembling an I-beam-type truss joist made up of a pair of spaced chords and an interconnecting web, comprising a. a framework having infeed and outfeed ends, b. laterally spaced chord feed means on the framework arranged to move a pair of chords longitudinally in laterally spaced relation with two sides thereof facing each other, c. cutter means mounted on the framework adjacent the infeed end thereof for cutting longitudinal grooves in the two facing sides of the chords for receiving side edge portions of web members in secured engagement, the cutter means being constructed and arranged to make tapered grooves in the chords, d. web support means on the framework downstream from the cutter means for receiving flat web members between the grooved chords, e. web feed means on the framework downstream from the web support means for moving the web members in the same direction as the chords, the web feed means including shaping wheels arranged to engage and forcibly compress the side edge portions of the web members for providing substantially corresponding tapers to said side edge portions for engagement in the grooves, and f. chord press means on the framework downstream from the web feed means for moving the chords laterally inward to press the opposite ends of the web members into the grooves in the chords.
 7. Forming apparatus for assembling an I-beam-type truss joist made up of a pair of spaced chords and an interconnecting web, comprising a. a framework having infeed and outfeed ends, b. laterally spaced chord feed means on the framework arranged to move a pair of chords longitudinally in laterally spaced relation with two sides thereof facing each other, c. cutter means mounted on the framework adjacent the infeed end thereof for cutting longitudinal grooves in the two facing sides of the chords for receiving side edge portions of web members in secured engagement, d. web support means on the framework downstream from the cutter means for receiving flat web members between the grooved chords, e. web feed means on the framework downstream from the web support means for moving the web members in the same direction as the chords, f. chord press means on the framework downstream from the web feed means for moving the chords laterally inward to press the opposite ends of the web members into the grooves in the chords, and, g. guide means arranged to curve the chords after the latter are joined with the web members to form a cambered joist. 